


there's nothing wrong with you

by kryptonianmenace



Category: Codename: Kids Next Door
Genre: F/M, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24288301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kryptonianmenace/pseuds/kryptonianmenace
Summary: Wally Beetles always knew he was a boy. His parents, not so much. Luckily, his friends are there for him.---They say, "Don't dare, don't you even go thereCutting off your long hair"You do as you're toldTell you, "Wake up, go put on your makeupThis is just a phase you're gonna outgrow"
Relationships: Wallabee Beetles/Kuki Sanban
Comments: 3
Kudos: 58





	there's nothing wrong with you

**Author's Note:**

> Title and summary from The Village by Wrabel

It was common knowledge back home that Wallabee Beetles wore her father’s hand-me-down hoodie constantly. At the Kids Next Door Arctic Training Base, not so much.

With her bowl cut and oversized men’s hoodie, she was constantly getting called ‘he’ and ‘boy’ and ‘Wally’ for short.

The tipping point was when her fellow trainee, Francine ‘Fanny’ Fulbright - the girl known for hating boys - screamed Wallabee out for being a stupid boy. Every operative on the base took her word for it - if Fanny thought Wallabee was a stupid boy, then that’s what Wallabee was.

And Wallabee didn’t hate it.

* * *

It was Numbuh 274 that finally asked Wallabee for the truth.

“Are you a boy or a girl? Because your records say girl but everyone says boy and you don’t seem to mind,” he asked.

Wallabee hesitated.

“It’s okay if you are a boy,” Numbuh 274 continued. “My records originally said girl, too. I changed ‘em. I can change yours if you want.”

“Er…”

“Think on it,” Numbuh 274 said. “Let me know.”

* * *

“How did you know you were a boy?” Wallabee asked.

Numbuh 274 shrugged. “One time I dressed up as a boy character for Halloween and everyone called me ‘he’ and ‘little man’ and stuff like that. I really liked how I felt being called that so I experimented with dressing like a boy more and more until it stuck.”

“Huh,” Wallabee said.

“You gotta be careful, though,” Numbuh 274 said. “My parents were cool with it when I started doing that, but not every parent is gonna be.”

“Will you change my records with the Kids Next Door, at least?” Wallabee asked. “And call me Wally?”

“Sure thing, Wally,” Number 274 said, punching Wally in the arm with a grin.

* * *

Wally ended up with Sector V, made up of some of his friends from training.

And that was something he was still getting used to - they all called him ‘Wally’ and ‘he’ and he didn’t try to correct them.

And it wasn't like they never knew him before he had Numbuh 274 change his records, no, they all knew him as ‘Wallabee’ and ‘she’ and all that. They were just really supportive friends.

* * *

The Delightful Children From Down The Lane were convinced Wally was short for Wallace in the beginning, and he couldn't stop from grinning the first time he heard the name leave their mouths.

It’s not that his birth name is super feminine - it’s not, it’s fairly gender neutral. But hearing someone use a masculine name for him gives him a feeling he can’t describe.

* * *

“Yeah, that’s called gender euphoria,” Numbuh 274 told him over the phone. “It’s the feeling you get when your gender is affirmed and you feel great about it. A lot of trans people feel that way when stuff like that happens.”

“Trans?” Wally asked.

“Transgender. People like us, who were designated one gender at birth but identify as another,” Numbuh 274 said.

“Wait, there’s a word for us?” Wally asked, shock clear in his voice.

“Well, yeah. There’s a whole community of people like us, there’s gonna be a word.”

* * *

Wally enlisted Numbuh 5’s help in researching more about the transgender community and other information related.

He learned about gender euphoria and dysphoria, about puberty blockers for kids, about hormone treatment for adults, and all sorts of other stuff.

* * *

He told his parents he thinks he’s a boy, and they laughed him off.

* * *

He asked his parents to at least call him Wally and they didn’t listen.

* * *

His father took him to ‘Bring Your Daughter To Work Day’ and it grated on Wally’s every last nerve.

At the very least, he ran into Kuki and ended up saving the day.

But it still got to him - his parents still saw him as a girl.

* * *

Numbuh 274’s parents were villains and they were still more supportive of Chad’s gender than Wally’s parents were of his.

Wally tried not to be bitter, but he couldn't help it. Mega Mom and Destructo Dad were more supportive of their transgender son than Wally’s parents.

That hurt.

* * *

Numbuh 274 betraying the Kids Next Door hurt even more.

Wally hadn’t thought it possible, but the betrayal was probably the worst hurt he had ever felt in his life.

None of the others knew how close Wally had been to Chad, and he didn’t want to have to explain Chad’s gender to them. He was the enemy, but he didn’t deserve to be outed.

So he suffered alone as he grieved the operative he knew.

* * *

Wally began bullying to try to ease his dysphoria.

It didn’t help.

It backfired.

He gave it up.

* * *

As nightmarish as the all girl’s boarding school was, knowing their technology to turn boys into girls worked on him (or the small part of him that it hit) did wonders for his gender euphoria, as odd as that may sound. It meant he was a boy and even the technology recognized that.

* * *

The morning of his thirteenth birthday, he woke up with a stomach full of dread, knowing he was to be decommissioned. He was the last of his original sector, and while it would be nice to no longer have to work with a group that wasn’t as familiar to him as his original team, it was still bittersweet.

His day only went downhill.

“Wallabee, dear,” his mom said. “Don’t you think it’s time you give up the tomboy act? You’re thirteen, it’s gotten rather old.”

* * *

He didn’t get decommissioned - he was lucky enough to be chosen as a teen operative, as had the rest of his original team - but his parents still expected him to be more feminine.

That night was the first time he ever willingly cried in front of his friends.

* * *

He grew his hair out. Kuki taught him how to do make up to appease his parents. Abby taught him how to dress just feminine enough to make his parents happy, without going too feminine and making him uncomfortable. Hoagie brought an extra hoodie to school everyday for Wally to hide in until it was time to go home. Nigel was still in space, and had no idea any of this was happening.

* * *

He was bullied at school once he stopped dressing like a boy.

First it was because classmates thought he was a cisgender boy crossdressing, but then they learned of the gender he was designated at birth and it became retroactive bullying for all the years he spent dressing as a boy.

Only his friends stuck by his side.

* * *

Nigel returned from space, thirteen years old, having found Chad and Numbuh Infinity.

Numbuh Infinity was decommissioned, but Chad and Nigel weren’t.

* * *

Chad bought him binders when he learned Wally was using Ace bandages.

“Those are so damaging, man! You have to be more careful!” Chad said.

Wally grumbled.

“Seriously, you could break a rib,” Chad said.

* * *

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with that Chad boy,” Wally’s dad said.

Wally looked up from his cereal, shooting his dad a confused look.

“Should we be concerned?” his dad continued.

“About what?” Wally asked.

“About dating, dear,” his mom said.

Wally blanched. “Ew, no, Chad’s like three years older than me, that’s weird.”

His parents chuckled.

“Besides,” he continued, foolhardy. “I like Kuki.”

* * *

“I’m not allowed to hang out with Kuki anymore,” Wally said.

The lunch table went silent as his friends stared in shock.

“Why?” Kuki asked, tearing up.

“Yeah, your parents love Kuki,” Hoagie said.

Wally ripped his sandwich in half angrily. “They don’t love the idea of their ‘daughter’ being gay.”

“That makes no sense,” Abby said. “Why just Kuki? Why not Abby?”

Wally blushed as he snapped. “Well I didn’t say I had a crush on you, Abby, did I?”

* * *

“Do you want to…” Kuki started.

Wally looked up from his locker, pulling Hoagie’s oversized hoodie off for the end of the day and shoving it in the locker.

“Do you wanna be boyfriend and girlfriend?” Kuki asked.

Wally blushed. “My parents won’t let us hang out, remember?”

“In secret, then! Like in the movies!” Kuki said.

“You mean those girly movies I don’t watch?” Wally asked, laughing.

Kuki punched him in the arm. “Exactly.”

“Hey, is that anyway to treat your secret boyfriend?” he asked, clutching his arm.

Kuki lit up in a grin.

* * *

Wally’s parents surprised him with a teeth cleaning in the middle of the school day, not giving him enough time to hide Hoagie’s hoodie in his locker.

“Is that Hoagie Gilligan’s?” his dad asked, recognizing the logo from the science fair Hoagie had participated in.

“Oh, that’s so cute, Hoagie lends her his clothes,” his mom said.

Wally sulked as his parents started talking about him and Hoagie as a couple, of all things.

* * *

“My parents think we’re dating cos they saw me wearing your hoodie,” Wally muttered to Hoagie the next day.

Hoagie rested his hand on Wally’s shoulder. “I may put the ‘bi’ in ‘bitchin’, but you know my heart belongs to Abby.”

“Don’t act like you’re turning me down! This isn’t a love confession!” Wally snapped, shoving Hoagie’s hand off his shoulder.

* * *

“I can’t keep living in hiding, man,” Wally said.

“What are you thinking?” Chad asked.

“I want to lay it all out for my parents, all of it.”

Chad was silent for a bit.

“Do you have a plan for if the worst happens?” Chad asked.

Wally looked down and frowned. “No.”

* * *

“Hey, Wally,” Chad said, catching the younger boy by his locker.

“What’s up, Chad?” Wally asked.

“I talked to my parents. If shit goes bad with your parents, you can stay with us,” Chad said.

Wally stared, shocked.

* * *

Things went bad with Wally’s parents.

* * *

The Dicksons were overly enthusiastic about having another boy in the house.

“I always wanted two sons,” Mrs. Dickson told Wally one day. “When we first had Chad, I thought, ‘well, I can have a daughter!’ Turns out I didn’t have one!” she adds with a laugh. “And after Chad, we couldn’t have any more, no matter how hard we tried.”

“We’re gonna teach you how to throw a football,” Mr. Dickson said, ignoring Chad’s protests.

“You kick a football,” Wally said, just to be contrary.

* * *

The Dicksons gained full custody of Wally when he’s fifteen. It had the potential to take longer, but his biological parents didn’t put up much fight.

His name was legally changed to Wally Dickson. He denied crying.

* * *

Wally joined after school activities, lots of them. His new parents encouraged heavy participation in clubs and sports, and luckily his school put up no fight about him joining the boys’ teams. He joined baseball and soccer - “it’s called football,” Wally insisted - and Kuki talked him into trying out for the school play. He wasn’t the starting player or lead role, but he was active, and that’s what mattered.

* * *

He started therapy shortly after being fully adopted by the Dicksons. Chad had to talk him into it, but he ended up glad for it.

He was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, and given an IEP. He was shocked that school was easier when the root of the problem was addressed.

* * *

Wally managed to pull his grades up by the end of high school, and he passed his SATs and ACTs with flying colors. He chose to go to Harvard like Chad, which came as a shock to many who didn’t know how hard he worked. Shocking them even more, he chose to study pre-med.

* * *

It was two months after they had graduated college when Wally asked.

“Kuki, I know a lot of people will laugh at us for being together so long, but what do you say we make it longer? Will you marry me?” he asked.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she said. “Yes!”

* * *

They were engaged for a year, Wally a year into med school, before he decided to bring it up.

“Do you think I should… tell my old family?” he asked.

Kuki rested her head on her hands, contemplative. “If it’s something you want. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but you also don’t have to keep from ever talking to them again if that’s not what you want, you know?”

* * *

He started by telling Joey. Uncle Lou was supposed to be chaperoning, but he was distracted by Toiletnator shenanigans.

Ten years younger than him, Wally’s little brother was twelve.

He tried not to laugh when the kid pointed a 2x4 weapon at him, then tried not to cry when he realized it was because Joey didn’t recognize him.

“I don’t have a brother,” Joey said. “My parents said I had a sister who was taken away for being gay, but not a brother.”

“I wasn’t taken away, and it wasn’t for being gay,” Wally said. “I’m transgender, which means I’m not the gender I was designated at birth. I left because mom and dad didn’t support me.”

They talked a little longer, but eventually, Joey came around.

* * *

The meeting with his mom and dad was more awkward.

“You told Joey I was taken away for being gay?” Wally asked.

His adoptive parents gasped while his biological parents looked askance. Chad grit his teeth and Kuki aggressively ate her food.

“That’s one way to scare him away from ever coming out,” Chad muttered.

* * *

They tried another meeting two months later.

It went better.

“So, medical school?” his biological mom asked.

Wally lit up, ready to talk on end about his classes.

Kuki stopped him after he had talked long enough to count as a lecture.

* * *

Joey complained about being in the wedding party, but Wally overheard him bragging to his friends about his brother getting married.

The fact that he even had a brother seemed to be a novelty to Joey, who had been spending more time with Wally since they met up.

* * *

It rained on Wally and Kuki’s wedding day. Kuki insisted on running out in the rain after the ceremony, drenching herself. Laughing, Wally followed her.

They kissed in the rain and both ended up sick for a week.

**Author's Note:**

> We out here ignoring both INTERVIEWS and the Galactic Kids Next Door Experiment solely so I can bring back Chad and Nigel. And Nigel doesn't even talk in this lmao.  
> Here's my KND spotify playlist if you wanna take a listen: [KND Vibes.](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/426HYMwrxGUYch92EM0Lcl?si=9QhI2_RTRIOmEdmgAAb6RQ)  
> [Check out my tumblr!](https://haljordanisbatman.tumblr.com/)


End file.
